Employee engagement with benefit programmes is falling, despite a third of employees saying they want more support with their health.
PIB Benefits found that will 37 per cent of employees do not access any information about their benefits — up from 28 per cent last year. PIB Benefits says this shows employers need to do more to proactively engage employees and ensure that the programmes they have put in place are making the desired impact.
Communication was seen to be a key part of this issue, with 35 per cent of employees saying that they did not understand the benefits information provided to them. Meanwhile almost half (46 per cent) of employees said the didn’t receive regular communications about benefits.
This is part of the consultants latest Mind the Gap survey, conducted with YouGov. The consultants said there was clearly room for employers to improve the take-up of benefits in the workplace, particularly as 30 per cent of employees surveyed said they wanted more support in the workplace for their physical health.
Elsewhere, the 2024 edition of the Mind the Gap survey shows minimal changes across the provision provided by employers. However the survey found that there was still significant demand for services that meet various health and wellbeing needs.
The survey found that 28 per cent of employees worry about their personal finances to the extent it negatively impacts productivity, while 33 per cent of employees reported the same for their mental health.
The survey continues to show a strong link between benefits and retention with 49 per cent of employees saying they would switch roles for better benefits elsewhere.
There has also been a small increase in the number of employees who would prefer greater flexibility over their benefit choices – 68 per cent said that they would like more autonomy over the benefits they can choose, compared to 66 per cent in 2023.
Retirement confidence continues to be reasonably low across the UK employee population; only 6 per cent of employees are confident they will retire with ‘plentiful’ money, with 39 per cent of employees not confident they will have enough money — and an additional 10 per cent stating they do not believe they will be able to retire.
PIB Employee Benefits head of consulting Joanne Neary says: “This year’s survey shows that disengagement is the underlying issue facing employers. Employees cannot engage with their benefits if they do not understand them or do not know how to access them. Companies need to prioritise benefits engagement; not only can it positively impact employee wellbeing but it can also potentially benefit immediate and long-term return-on-investment.”